1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an intelligent navigation system for a vehicle, and more specifically, to a system and method of providing collision avoidance information using an intelligent navigation system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Intelligent navigation involves the delivery of information to a vehicle operator. Various types of information are useful for navigation purposes, such as vehicle position, maps, road conditions, or the like. The information is communicated to the vehicle operator in a variety of ways, such as a display device or a screen integral with the instrument panel, or through an auditory output device.
One feature of an intelligent navigation system is the integration of a global positioning system (GPS) to automatically determine the location of the vehicle. The GPS may be a handheld device or integral with the vehicle. The global positioning system includes a signal transmitter, a signal receiver, and a signal processor. The GPS, as is known in the art, utilizes the concept of time-of-arrival ranging to determine position. The global positioning system includes a signal receiver in communication with a space satellite transmitting a ranging signal. The position of the signal receiver can be determined by measuring the time it takes for a signal transmitted by the satellite at a known location to reach the signal receiver in an unknown location. By measuring the propagation time of signals transmitted from multiple satellites at known locations, the position of the signal receiver can be determined. NAVSTAR GPS is an example of a GPS that provides worldwide three-dimensional position and velocity information to users with a receiving device from twenty-four satellites circling the earth twice a day.
Another feature of a navigation system is a digital map. The digital map is an electronic map stored in an associated computer database. The digital map may include relevant information about the physical environment, such as roads, intersections, curves, hills, traffic signals, or the like. The digital map can be extremely useful to the vehicle operator. The computer database may be in communication with another database in order to update the information contained in the map.
Vehicles are also a part of the physical environment. The relative position of a particular vehicle in the physical environment is dynamic, thus making it difficult to track the exact location of the vehicle. At the same time, knowing the relative position of another vehicle is beneficial to the vehicle driver, and may assist the vehicle driver in avoiding the occurrence of a collision with another vehicle. Thus, there is a need in the art for an intelligent navigation system that incorporates collision avoidance in order to provide the operator with additional information about the physical environment in which it operates.